Coach K's No. 1 Duke Blue Devils getting by on grit

Feb. 14, 2013
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Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski argues with referee Mike Eades in their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. / Mark Dolejs, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Lopresti, USA TODAY Sports

DURHAM, N.C. â?? Mike Krzyzewski spent his 66th birthday beating North Carolina in the company of thousands of screaming blue and white faces, and a Duke team that continues to find a way.

Who needed a party?

"It's hell being 66,'' he said when it was over Wednesday night, and if he looked a little tired, no wonder. These 9 p.m. games are killers, and little seems to be coming easy this season, which seems an odd thing to say about a No. 1 ranked team with 22-2 record.

But the message is growing clearer. Whatever the Blue Devils do in March, it'll have to be on will. They are not fully loaded. Not with big man Ryan Kelly watching the pre-game warmup on crutches, his return date uncertain. They are not ultra-talented with a platoon of NBA sure things, and they are not without flaws or vulnerabilities.

"This isn't Laettner and Hurley, Williams and Battier, playing against North Carolina,'' Krzyzewski said, evoking a Duke pantheon of past great names in one paragraph. "Our guys are good, but they're not terrific.''

But they win.

It might not always be pretty. Wednesday certainly wasn't, when between the pressure and the frenzy and the hype, the two teams combined for 30 turnovers and only 17 assists. North Carolina played sufficiently inspired and led by as many as 10 points, but when the game had to be retrieved, Duke shot 52 percent the second half and made 13 of 14 free throws after halftime to get by 73-68.

Krzyzewski finds himself talking a lot about grit these days.

"I do think it was at the highest level tonight,'' he said. "A lot of times in these games, you get worn out quicker. We got knocked back by their quickness. At halftime, I was just worried we may have run of out gas.

"That's where the grit came out. You kind of forgot about being tired.''

And this year, with no super team out there, who knows how far steel can get someone?

"I think this team has a chance to do something special,'' Mason Plumlee said. "The season is wide open in the college basketball landscape.''

Turning 66 had Krzyzewski pausing for reflection on the past, including all those North Carolina games. He's now 38-37 against the Tar Heels, so that hasn't been easy, either.

"On your birthday, you want to thank God,'' Krzyzewski said."He's been pretty good to me and my family, and part of it is being in this rivalry.

"After I was here a few years, I knew we were lucky to be a 50-50 partner with them in this great event.''

Wednesday did what great rivalries do. They test, they push, sometimes they clarify. If a team has a toughness issue, this game will expose it.

"This game is so different than any other game,'' Plumlee said. "You have chills before the game.''

Added teammate Quinn Cook, "You have so much adrenaline and it's so tiring. But you have to fight through it. You can't use that an excuse.''

This was North Carolina coach Roy Williams, bending his knees, spreading his arms, pleading for a defensive stop. And Krzyzewski, his face contorted in emotion, trying to ignite a rally.

This was a sea of white and blue painted faces, ridiculing the visitors at every opportunity. One waved a sign at James Michael McAdoo: "McA Don't, McA Didn't, McA Never Will.'' One of the entrance requirements to attend Duke must be the ability to incessantly chant, "Go to hell Carolina, go to hell.''

This was players from both teams chasing a loose ball at one end, nearly landing in the laps of former Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer and former Oklahoma basketball coach Billy Tubbs. Whatever they were doing here.

"I just thought both teams played the way Duke and North Carolina teams play,'' Krzyzewski said.

This was much more than the Tar Heels team that had lost six games away from home by an average of 16 points. "I'm not into moral victories,'' Williams said, but he loved the effort as a step toward better days. "I hope they realize how much they invested, and the results were better. It's still a loss.''

Meanwhile, Duke once again proved to itself how this season must go. Not much flash and not much depth, just grinding.

"We sacrificed our bodies, each and every one of us,'' freshman guard Rasheed Sulaimon said.

Leading that will be the man who is eligible for Social Security.

"We've been able not to let our ship sink,'' Krzyzewski said of life without Kelly. "Some of this since Ryan has been out has been survival.

"We can't be worried about conference races and all that . . . we've got to run our race and not worry about anybody else's race.''

The old coach needs his team to play young, and hungry, and maybe even angry.

"Shared anger, shared emotion in tough situations really has won a lot of contests in every sport,'' he said. "I don't know if it comes from my military background, but I believe in it.''

When it was over Wednesday, the Duke students chanted "NIT'' at 16-8 North Carolina.